Photo credit: Stefanie Loos/re:publica (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Mobility & City
In the track City and Mobility we are taking a look at the impact digitalization has on cities. What does the increasing interconnectedness of urban space mean for the inhabitants of a city? Do sensor-equipped, self-regulated street lamps imply an increase in sustainability or rather a loss of anonymous urban space? We will discuss whether the rejection of a Google campus in Berlin-Kreuzberg or the Amazon headquarters in New York imply a growing global rejection of platform capitalism and urban planning by private hands, or whether these are merely local blips. We will debate whether a smart city is better designed by local governments and citizens or whether it is more efficiently controlled by international tech companies. And we're considering what analogue urban spaces we need in a digital society and what they look like. And we're trying to find out: what comes after the smart city?
Smart mobility not only stands for autonomous driving cars or even air taxis, but also includes how public (urban) space can be shared fairly with all road users. What changes are necessary in public road traffic - which is also the public space of all citizens - in the city of the future? How can we ensure that pedestrians and cyclists have enough space for safe movement despite Car-Sharing and autonomous cars? And what new opportunities are created by the increasing digitalisation of transport, which can be implemented in a way that is both as resource-efficient and emission-free as possible?
We want to investigate: are roads and motorways still the way forward in the future, and if not, what alternatives are there? Will my digitally-shopped parcel soon be delivered by drone or by cargo bike? How do we deal with the masses of rental bikes that have recently clogged street corners, and does car-sharing really lead to a decrease in unused cars in the city? How effective are first/last mile app connections, and what options are there in public transport to ensure more mobility-on-demand services? What effects do these have on traditional public transport?
And what about the numerous commuters who live outside the cities in the countryside and only have limited access to public transport and few alternatives to their own cars?
These debates are not only discussed in niches by techies, mobility researchers or urban planners, but with a broad participation: because we can learn from almost all disciplines when analysing mobility and the city. We are looking forward to the critical, creative, scientific or artistic contributions of this track. City life and the mobility of the future concern us all - whether cyclists, motorists, city dweller or country mouse.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-tba
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-Following the panel discussion "Shifting the Narrative on Access to Water", this Action Roundtable aims to develop strategies and solutions for the global fight of Water as a Human Right.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-The panel discussion aims to identify racial, environmental and legal implications of a public health crisis around water.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-Autonomous driving, electrified vehicles, sharing platforms and many more digital innovations already changed the way we move. But this was just the beginning. In this session, we're taking a hard look at current mobility innovations and how they revolutionize the way we move, live, and how they foster access – of transportation modes, of places and much more. We want to look at the mobility of the future from different perspectives to discuss solutions that work for everyone.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-The problems of transportation begin with how (single-use, low density) urban development patterns have generated excessively long travel distances to jobs and other daily needs that can then be reached only by automobile. This has reduced the likelihood of having good/successful/affordable public transport or being able to bike or walk to our destinations, and reduced the access of the ones who really need it.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-What are the hidden logics at play in the housing crisis? Why are financiers & private equity funds BUYING UP MODEST HOUSING COMPLEXES? How can something as material as a building turn into intangible assets, and why is an empty apartment sometimes a better asset than its use as a home? Who are the players and what are the factors that make housing one of today’s most pressing world issues? And how can one hold governments accountable if they don’t meet the human rights obligations?
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-Conventional placemaking strategies privilege the values of practitioners and inaccurately reflect the needs of the communities they seek to serve.
- Mobility & City-Globally, most of us agree that Democracy needs to be updated. The most popularly followed democratic models were designed for populations that were smaller, more exclusive, less educated, and less connected than we are today. Not surprisingly, our politicians serve terms and seem non-responsive to their pronounced goals. Can equitable distribution of legislative and regulatory decision- making powers lead to a better Detroit? Though it may sound Utopian, isn't it possible? Yes!
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-This session will explore the increasing use of surveillance in the city of Detroit, a majority black city through the Project Greenlight Program and facial recognition technology, and how a coalition of organizations in Detroit are challenging the city's use of this technology.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-Many native Detroiters of Diasporic Afrikan ancestry have experienced economic violence and structural racism that has resulted in years of cultural/physical displacement as well as deep emotional trauma. When cultural identity and legacy is displaced so is one's sense of place. This action seeks to address one's ability to change their emotional state and their subsequent social mobility, through the use of storytelling and place-based cultural programming.
- Mobility & CityAccess to Mobility & Urban Space-Detroit is a large metropolis but because it is disconnected, it is less dynamic and innovative than it should be. As this region contemplates being a leader in new mobility technology, how should we invest in our own mobility options? How can new ways of mapping help bridge divides and describe a future that is broadly appealing? This talk will explore some realistic transit proposals in view of the ongoing work of the Regional Transit Authority and how we can describe them visually.